Really Surprised!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A curious movie in which Ciaran Hinds, a recent widower with two young children, begins to have experiences that involve ghosts of people he knows or, in one case, a soon-to-be ghost. The visions or whatever they are tend to occur at night but are terrifying.The story takes place in the Irish city of Cobh, where a writer's festival is taking place. (Yes, in Ireland, at least, serious writers are still taken seriously.) Hinds is hired as a limo driver and guide for a young British blond,Iben Hjejle, who is desperately trying to shed herself of the attentions of a self-indulgent American writer and former lover, Aidan Quinn.With no one else to turn to, and in anguish, Hinds befriends Hjejle and tells her of his visions. Hinds has also written some stories about ghosts, autobiographical we presume, and Hjejle takes his manuscript to London with her, after leaving Hinds with a warm good-bye kiss and inviting him to visit her at any time.It has a few shocking moments, not particularly well done. But it's an adult movie, in no way insulting, with some agreeable directorial touches, good performances, and fine casting. Hjejle is attractive without being a glamorous young sexpot. And Ciaran Hinds has the face of Humphrey C. Earwicker, the face of everyman. He looks as if he'd just stepped out of a factory that made toothpaste tubes.It's neatly photographed, it captures Ireland's rainy temperament, and has several other virtues but it's sluggish, a kind of slice of life, in which events take place deliberately but accidentally, the way they do in reality. They don't rush after one another as they do in most films. I doubt that it will appeal to everyone but if you have patience and time, you should find this an interesting diversion.

Dear Irish Film Board, the next time you feel you absolutely must include a love triangle in a (horror) drama, at least make sure you choose a woman that is worth fighting over and that the male audience can show interest in. The British Isles are famous for their gorgeous freckled women, so I really don't see why Iben Hjejle was cast to be anyone's love obsession, much less Aidan Quinn's, who I hear is quite popular with the ladies. She looks like Amanda Plummer, frcrissakes. Aidan Quinn gets a panic attack over her, then gets drunk coz she won't commit to him, and then into a fist-fight. Or did I just dream it all? Actually, as it turns out, she is Danish. (They have beautiful women too, so WTF.) Dear Irish Film Board, it's me again, the somewhat disgruntled viewer of your drama-pretending-to-be-also-horror-so-that-it-makes-more-cash, "The Eclipse". The actress Iben isn't even English, yet she was impersonating an English woman for the role. Why would you cast an unattractive Danish woman with a strange accent when you could have easily found a charismatic, sexy British lass with the proper accent for the role? Why do you hate your viewers so much? Why dabble in filmic black magic arts when you can have it straight-forward and effective?Why do some producers seem to believe that beautiful women don't belong in serious drama? Meryl Streep and Glenn Close are a staple of those. If you want more guys to see your darned chick-flicks, you might as well make a radical change in attitude, people.TE is a rather forgettable, pointless drama in which the ghosts pretty much suffer from extreme neglect. Their appearances, what few there are, serve as mere plot-devices to fuel the romance between a depressed widower and an ugly Danish actress with a damn unpronounceable name. All this, just so we can have that utterly predictable punch-up between the widower and Quinn at the end, in which – thankfully – Iben gets punched in the face as well. (And I attest to the fact that the hit actually improved her face somewhat.)

This movie may move too slow for some people who are used to modern horror movies where everything is constant gore or sex. The Eclipse is more true to an actually book story being told. I liked the setting and the scenery. I liked the characters..except Aidan Quinn's, and that's just natural because he's annoying. The older man popping up out of nowhere actually is scary because the music that goes along with the scene is so tranquil up until that point. I was watching it in the dark, but even in the light the scenes like that will catch you off guard. Overall this was a good story and plot. His deceased wife coming back at the end to see him was emotionally real and thoughtful.

This chilling and thoughtful thriller from top Irish playwright McPherson exemplifies what movie makers who've earned their chops on the stage can bring to the big screen. The characters are three-dimensional; sharp, efficient dialog defines the relationships and moves the plot forward; life in a recently bereaved family, a small Irish town, and a literary festival is acutely observed.The Eclipse maintains a spooky tension throughout and in a few instances will have you jumping out of your skin. (One minor criticism: Loud incidental music is constantly deployed to manipulate viewers, a perennial flaw of many mystery and horror films.) However, this is not a traditional ghost story but a psychological drama filtered through the perspective of the widowed father masterfully portrayed by Ciaran Hinds. It's probably not too much of a stretch to compare The Eclipse to In Bruges, the debut film of Martin McDonagh, another acclaimed U.K. dramatist, in the way it exploits the conventions of genre even as it defies formula to tell a more original, gratifying story.A bonus: The cathedral-dominated town of Cobh, Cork County, provides a stunningly picturesque backdrop to The Eclipse, while adding to the overall isolated, claustrophobic atmosphere.